First person to receive gene-edited pig heart dies two months after historic transplant

David Bennett, 57, who received a pig's heart in January in place of his own failing, died Tuesday.

It is not yet clear what caused Bennett's death, according to the University of Maryland Medical Center, where he received the transplant on January 7 and has been recovering ever since. His health started deteriorating in recent days and the hospital announced his death on Wednesday.

Bennett was the first patient to receive a genetically modified animal organ to prevent rejection in an individual.

No clear cause was identified at the time of his death, hospital spokeswoman Deborah Kotz said, and the researchers plan to conduct a full review of his death and publish the results in a peer-reviewed journal.

“We are devastated by the loss of Mr. Bennett. He proved to be a brave and noble patient who fought to the end. We offer our condolences to his family,” Dr. Bartley Griffith, the surgeon who led Bennett's transplant, said in a statement. Deepest condolences." "Mr. Bennett is known to millions around the world for his courage and determination to live."

Exploratory surgery, although it only added two months to Bennett's life, informed the field of xenotransplantation, which hopes to help solve the human organ shortage.

"We have gained invaluable insight that genetically modified pig hearts can function well within the human body while the immune system is sufficiently suppressed," said Dr. Muhammad Mohiuddin, who was involved in Bennett's care and attended the university. Maryland School of Medicine said in a statement. "We remain optimistic and plan to continue our work in future clinical trials."

The history of medicine is replete with examples of experimental procedures that at first did not make a substantial difference to some patients, but eventually replaced medicine. Organ transplants themselves were largely experimental from the 1950s to the mid-1980s, and now about 40,000 are performed annually in the United States alone.

The transplant raised ethical concerns among animal rights activists, who believe that animals should not be sacrificed for human benefit, and some objected to Bennett, who served time in prison for assaulting a man with a knife. given, was receiving a life-extending procedure.

Bennett was kept in bed and on a heart-lung bypass machine at the University of Maryland Medical Center from October 2021 until transplant surgery.

He was not eligible for a human heart transplant because he did not conform to earlier medical recommendations. Studies have shown that patients who do not follow doctors' orders do not do well with organ transplants and that only a very limited number of human hearts are available for transplant.

Bennett was also not a good candidate for an artificial heart pump because of an irregular heartbeat.

When he realized he had no other choice, he agreed to be the first to receive the gene-edited pig heart, which he hoped would last until he proved himself worthy of a human heart. Until then it will be a bridge.

His new heart did well for weeks, without any signs of disapproval. Extremely weak for so long in bed, Bennett was receiving rehabilitation and was able to sit down with his physical therapist and watch the Super Bowl, even singing along to a performance of "America the Beautiful."

He often told his caretakers how much he wanted to bring his dog Lucky home.

Bennett's son, David Bennett, Jr., speaking for the family, thanked the hospital and doctors for their care.

"His tireless efforts and energy, combined with my father's insatiable will to live, created an optimistic atmosphere during one of the climbs," he said in a statement. "We were able to spend some precious weeks together while he recovered from transplant surgery, we wouldn't have weeks without this miraculous endeavour."

His son also said that he hopes his father's experience will eventually help many others live longer with transplanted pig organs.

"We hope this story can be the beginning of hope and not the end," he said. "We pray that those who seek hope will keep fighting for the future, fighting for new ideas, fighting for answers, fighting for life. Fight like Dave."

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